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Lawyers have condemned SNP ministers for announcing plans for a Supreme Court in an independent Scotland at a time when, it is claimed, they are considering closing existing courts and cutting the legal aid budget.

The proposal for a new layer of the judiciary emerged in a single line in the middle of the Scottish government’s transition paper for independence, published this week.

Last night the Administration was unclear on what types of cases a new court would deal with. However, legal experts said that it would require investment — and raise difficult questions of who to put on the bench